Budget & Policy

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 House lawmakers voted this week to approve a final version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, which would establish a $3.5 billion National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund. The Senate is expected to follow suit next week. One provision of the bill would authorize the Defense Secretary to shift […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/5/2014 A new national park comprising of sites tied to the Manhattan Project is moving forward, with language in the final version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, unveiled this week, calling for such a park to be created within a year. The proposed park, which has been […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 A report recently released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office last week states that a reduction of the planned nuclear ballistic missile submarine posture from 12 to eight, a delay of the start construction date of the Ohio-class replacement from Fiscal Year 2021 to FY 2025, and a deferral of […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration projects continue to be plagued by cost estimating weaknesses, the Government Accountability Office said last week in a report that criticizes DOE/NNSA for not implementing best practices for cost estimating across the complex. Requirements for implementing best practices are inconsistent, the GAO […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 Because of the many variables created by the flexibility of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, developing an accurate estimate of the costs of implementing the plan is extremely difficult, according researchers from the Electric Power Research Institute and Resources for the […]

Abby L. Harvey                  GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 NRG Energy has announced plans to cut its carbon emissions 50 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050 below a 2014 baseline by increasing the development and use of renewables and carbon capture and storage. “Our portfolio allows us to pursue everything from fuel conversions and carbon capture […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 A lawsuit challenging the Illinois Commerce Commission’s authority to require other state utilities to foot some of the bill for the costly FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and storage project will come before the Illinois Supreme Court, the court announced early this week. This appeal, as well as an appeal […]

GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Engineering company Amec Foster Wheeler plc and Societe Générale Corporate & Investment Banking were selected last week as leading advisors for the development of the United Kingdom’s Teesside Industrial CCS Network. The network, which is being spearheaded by Tees Valley Unlimited, would initially consist of four Teesside plants; the […]

GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 An article in the Nov. 21 issue of GHG Monitor incorrectly stated that legislation recently proposed by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) would institute a fee of 42 per ton of carbon emitted. The fee would be applied to carbon dioxide, not carbon. GHG Monitor regrets the error.  

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 12/5/2014 The Senate appears set to confirm early next week Jeffrey Baran to a longer term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, after voting this week to approve a cloture motion to limit debate on Baran’s nomination. President Barrack Obama nominated Baran to serve the remaining years left on departing NRC […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 12/5/2014 The Nuclear Waste Fund grew $3.2 billion from fiscal year 2013 to fiscal year 2014 despite the hiatus in the collection of the NWF fee, according to the annual audit conducted by the Department of Energy’s Inspect General Office, released this week. The fund currently stands at $39.8 billion, […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 12/5/2014 Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) this week continued her fight against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s refusal to hand over sensitive documents to Congressional oversight. Boxer has fought with the Commission for much of the past year over the release of documents to the committee, mainly […]

The current level of spending on nuclear weapons “is unnecessary and unsustainable,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) argues in a Dec. 3 op-ed in the Washington Post. Feinstein, currently the chair of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, makes the case for reducing the number of ‘hedge’ weapons in the stockpile. “Of our stockpile of […]

Could the top Democratic spot on the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Committee go to the top Democrat in the Senate? There is speculation that Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), in line to be the Senate’s Minority Leader after a long tenure as Majority Leader, could seek the ranking member spot currently held by Sen. Dianne […]

Senate Republicans chastised Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) yesterday during a Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight hearing for pushing the re-nomination of Commissioner Jeffrey Baran through committee without a hearing. Baran moved through the committee earlier this week on a 10-8 party line vote, despite Republican protests. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) echoed […]

With Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz slated to speak at the Western Governors’ Association meeting Saturday in Las Vegas, Moniz is expected to have one-on-one meetings with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez to discuss Department of Energy issues in those states. Notably, New Mexico is currently deciding on enforcement actions […]

The United States must upgrade its nuclear deterrent and the $60-$100 billion pricetag to modernize all three legs of the triad included in the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review should be manageable, former Congressman Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) and National Defense Panel member told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing on the sidelines of a Dec. 2 hearing before […]

The Nuclear Waste Fund grew $3.2 billion from fiscal year 2013 to fiscal year 2014 despite the hiatus in the collection of the NWF fee, according to the annual audit conducted by the Department of Energy’s Inspect General Office, obtained by WC Morning Briefing yesterday. The fund currently stands at $39.8 billion, up from $36.6 […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board yesterday published its final rule for establishing procedures for preliminary and formal safety investigations at Department of Energy facilities, which includes a “safety privilege” aimed at protecting confidential information. Information given to the Board during an investigation can be treated confidential, “safety privileged” and non-public, according to the rule. […]

The National Defense Panel, co-chaired by Dr. William Perry and Gen. John Abizaid, at 10 a.m. today will deliver its verbal assessment of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review released in July to the House Armed Services Committee. The panel’s written assessment, released July 31, asserts that modernization of nuclear forces – namely long-range strike capabilities […]

If the military reduces its planned SSBN posture from 12 to eight, delays the start construction date of the Ohio-class replacement from Fiscal Year 2021 to FY 2025, and defers development of the long-range strike bomber until at least FY 2025, the U.S. would save $55 billion, according to a recently released Congressional Budget Office […]

President Obama should scale back plans to modernize the nation’s nuclear arsenal, the New York Times said in a Nov. 28 editorial. Referencing recent promises by former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to improve the working conditions of the Navy and Air Force legs of the nuclear deterrent, the Times suggested that “more spending on security […]

Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration projects continue to be plagued by cost estimating weaknesses, the Government Accountability Office said yesterday in a report that criticizes DOE/NNSA for not implementing best practices for cost estimating across the complex. Requirements for implementing best practices are inconsistent, the GAO said, noting that the Department’s 2010 […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 The Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the Nuclear Security Enterprise briefed Congress last week on its final recommendations and is putting the finishing touches on its report, NS&D Monitor has learned. The report was initially due in July, but delays in standing up the panel slowed its progress, […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 After Dec. 11, a subsequent short-term or year-long Continuing Resolution to continue to fund the federal government could prompt Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to request a funding anomaly to enable the building of an Ohio-class replacement test facility later this year. The program’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request sought […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 Two lawsuits filed by Murray Energy challenging the legality of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal fired power plants have been combined, according to documents filed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit late last week. The suits were filed shortly […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency will not adjust their carbon emissions regulation for existing coal-fired power plants to meet the level of emissions reduction agreed to in the recent climate deal struck between the United States and China, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said at a breakfast hosted this week by […]

Simpson to Remain Chairman of House E&W Approps; Upton Back as House E&C Committee Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 There will be familiar faces in the next Congress atop the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee and House Energy and Commerce Committee, but a new leader for the House Armed Services Committee. Rep. Mac Thornberry […]

Facing Tight Funding, Site Looks at Balancing Progress Toward D&D Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 11/21/2014 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, responsible for the Portsmouth D&D project, is awaiting the next step from Congress to see if it can avoid hundreds of layoffs next month, officials said this week. Despite facing a funding shortfall of $110 million at […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 The U.S. energy market will change as a result of the proposed Environmental Protection Agency carbon emissions standards for existing coal-burning power plants, likely resulting in increased use of natural gas, according to an analysis released this week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Rhodium […]